We know it’s good to learn another language. It opens doors, makes you more employable, helps you make new friends, and it’s fun, too. But to improve our linguistic（语言）skills, many of us have to stand hours of school lessons or evening classes, with our heads buried in textbooks. It’s no wonder that technology appears to be providing a better and more accessible way of learning.
There is certainly a huge demand for language learning, and having a smart phone means you can have a virtual teacher with you wherever you go. Many app developers are keen to cash in on the demand, and there are numerous learning apps available— including our own, free, BBC Learning English app!
Some educational apps offer languages not popular enough to be taught at evening classes, or at most universities. And others offer “invented” language courses in Esperanto, Elvish and Star Trek’s Klingon— lessons you might not find in a traditional classroom.
Whatever you want to learn, apps allow you to go at your own pace and fit learning around other commitments. But they’re not perfect— you might not get your head round the grammar and will lack the peer support you get in a classroom environment.
So, does technology take the place of the end of traditional classrooms and teachers? Guy Baron, head of modern languages at Aberystwyth University, thinks not. He told the BBC that apps should be used alongside classroom methods, not to remove traditional teaching. And he adds: “The apps are not designed for degrees, but they could be additional resources.”
Certainly technology is going to help in and outside the classroom. But attending a real lesson, facing a real teacher, probably forces you to be more involved.
1.Which of the following statements is true?
A.Smart phones must be used in language classes.
B.Everyone has to bear to stay in classrooms all day.
C.Learning another language helps improve technology.
D.Language learners have more chances to be employed.
2.What can you do by learning on apps?
A.Studying on your own schedule.
B.Learning all the popular languages.
C.Becoming a master of grammar easily.
D.Having many classmates to study together.
3.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A.Technology will replace teachers.
B.We use technology to teach better.
C.Real teachers and lessons get us more involved.
D.Apps should be popularized in all different classes.
4.What is probably the best title for the passage?
A.The Way to Learn with Apps.
B.The Advantages of Learning with Apps
C.The Choice of Apps or Classroom Learning.
D.The Importance of Learning another language.
Who is Li Ziqi? For 7 million watchers on YouTube and 20 million micro bloggers on Sina Weibo, that’s an easy question to answer. She holds an account on each of the two platforms, and uploads her videos about the detailed cooking processes of various kinds of traditional Chinese food.
Li is a craftsperson in a rural area of Southwest China’s Sichuan province. Different from others, she is fond of showing the whole process from the field to the table. For example, in her video about spicy tofu, she starts with harvesting the soy beans, grinding them into powder and making tofu, and then cooks it. Her works also include building a homemade oven to bake bread.
Like the rest of us, Li was probably not born with skills to create the things we see in her videos, but she uses everything and everybody around her as a teacher. Li never attended college, but she shows us how useful self-learning can be in an age of plenty of learning resources.
Li lets the world see one of the most important aspects of the Chinese people, how they live their daily lives. She lets the world know that Chinese people love good food and are good at making art out of even simple raw materials, which have caught the hearts of her global audience.
Moreover, Li’s charming videos show the simple joys of country living, which she can improve by using her head, heart and hands. While others become the product of their environment, she turns her surroundings into her product. Others see problems and feel frustrated, while Li goes and fixes them. We, therefore, can choose to be inspired by her, to seek the artistic solution and enjoy the creativity, joy and relaxation that “doing” life could offer.
1.What is special about Li’s videos?
A.Baking bread in a modern way.
B.Both on YouTube and Sina Weibo.
C.Mixing Chinese with western food.
D.Showing planting and cooking processes.
2.What has interested global audience in Paragraph 4?
A.Traditional Chinese tofu.
B.Turning daily life into art.
C.Chinese people’s country life.
D.The detailed cooking programme.
3.The author suggests that we should ________.
A.enjoy watching Li’s videos
B.fix the broken things by ourselves
C.use surroundings to improve our lives
D.have the simple joy of country living
4.What is the author’s attitude to Li’s videos?
A.Favorable. B.Indifferent.
C.Doubtful. D.Negative.
Today in the UK teenagers are allowed to work from the age of 13, and many do take up part-time jobs. It's a taste of independence and sometimes a useful thing to put on their CV(简历). Teenagers agree that it teaches valuable lessons about working with adults and also about managing their money.
Some research has shown that not taking part-time job could be detrimental to a person later on. A 2015 study by the UK Commission on Employment and Skills found that not taking part-time work at school age had been blamed by employers' organizations for young adults being ill-prepared for full-time employment. However, recent studies have still shown that the number of schoolchildren in the UK with a part-time job has fallen by a fifth in the past five years.
So, does this mean that British teenagers are now more afraid of hard work? Probably not. Young people feel that going out to work will affect their performance at school, and they are under more pressure now to study hard and get good exam results — and a good job in the long term. However, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, told BBC News that ''Properly regulated part-time work is a good way of helping young people learn skills that they will need in their working lives.'' In reality, it's all about getting the right balance between doing part-time work and having enough time to study and rest.
1.Which is the advantage of having part-time jobs?
A.Learning useful lessons.
B.Spending money at will.
C.Living independently.
D.Making some money.
2.What does the underlined word ''detrimental'' probably mean?
A.Careful. B.Helpful.
C.Faithful. D.Harmful.
3.From the passage, in UK we know_______ .
A.hard work is not fit for teenagers
B.a girl aged 10 is not allowed to work
C.a fifth children have taken part-time jobs
D.working benefits teens' performance at school
4.What is Geoff Barton's opinion?
A.Learning some necessary working skills.
B.Keeping a balance between study and rest.
C.Having as many part-time jobs as possible.
D.Focusing on teenagers’ achievements at school.
National Pet Week (May 3–9, 2020) celebrates the pets that enrich our lives and encourages responsible pet care every day of the year. It is celebrated during the first full week of May each year and it was created almost forty years ago by the American Veterinary Medical Association. During this week, retailers (零售商) get in the game with discounts on all sorts of pet products, from CBD products to pet clothes. Here are some websites where you can buy something you want with discounts during the National Pet Week.
Crown and Paw:
This fun service will turn a photo of your pet into a work of art inspired by authentic 19th-century portraits and Renaissance-era (文艺复兴时期) paintings. Select a costume from their online catalog, like the Dutchess or the Admiral, upload a photo and they do the rest! During National Pet Week, save 20 percent off with code PETS30.
Dr. Marty Pets:
This website offers pet foods that are made with freeze-dried fresh ingredients, as well as healthy pet medicine. Till June 1, save 25 percent off all regularly priced products with code PETS25.
Mutts & Meows Pet Accessories:
This brand offers over 100 different styles of hand-sewn pet handkerchiefs, bow ties, neckties and hair bands. From May 1 to 10, save 10 percent off site wide with code PETWEEK10.
Petmate:
Petmate carries a wide variety of pet products including food, portable kennels, and toys, like the Chuckit! From May 3 to 9, save 20 percent off any order of $35 or more with code PETS20.
1.What’s the purpose of National Pet Week?
A.To play games with the pets.
B.To call on people not to raise the pets.
C.To attract people to buy the pet products.
D.To celebrate the pets making our lives colorful.
2.Which website can you get an artistic photo of your pet?
A.Dr. Marty Pets B.Petmate
C.Crown and Paw D.Mutts & Meows Pet Accessories
3.How much of the regular price does it take you to buy a necktie on May 10th ?
A.10% B.90%
C.75% D.80%
健康一直是人们关注的话题。假如你是李华，最近你校要举行以How to keep healthy?为主题的英语演讲比赛，请根据话题内容谈谈你的看法，写一篇100词左右的演讲稿。
要点包括：1.保持健康的重要性；
2.保持健康的方法，如：多锻炼，健身强体；多吃水果、蔬菜，保持饮食平衡；鄙弃不良习惯等。
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短文改错
After shopping, Mother and I went to a restaurant for lunch. I notice Mother looking at a nearby table occupy by an elderly woman and young couple. They were silent, and it was clearly that things were not going well. As we left, Mother stopped on their table. “Excuse me,” she said, put her arm around the unhappy old woman. “You remind me so many of my mother. May I hug you?” The woman smiled happily as she accepted to it. After we left, I said, “That was very nice of you, Mother. So I didn’t think she looked like Grandma.” “Neither did me.” said Mother cheerfully.
